TEHRAN, Iran – Muslims from seven countries were barred Saturday from flying to the US and others detained there after President Donald Trump froze arrivals, with one man saying his life has been “destroyed.”
Iran, which saw many of its citizens stranded in European and Middle Eastern airports, denounced the “insulting” ban and said it would reciprocate.
Trump on Friday signed a sweeping executive order to suspend the arrival of refugees and impose tough new controls on travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.
His move sparked widespread international criticism and personal heartache.
“Donald Trump destroyed my life,” Iraqi Fuad Sharef, 51, told AFP.
He had been in transit in Cairo with his wife and two children when officials told them they could not board an EgyptAir flight to New York’s John F. Kennedy airport.
“I had sold my house, my car, my furniture. I resigned from work and so did my wife. I took my children out of school” to resettle in Nashville, Tennessee under a special immigrant visa, he said.
A pharmaceutical industry manager who had previously worked for an non-government organization subcontracted by the US aid agency, Sharif and his family were put on a flight back to Iraq.
In Tehran, an Iranian studying in California said the new restrictions would affect her studies. “I had a ticket for Turkish Airlines on February 4, but it has been cancelled,” the girl, who did not wish to be identified, told AFP.
Several other Iranians hoping to fly from Europe were also told they could not board US-bound flights, including an elderly couple stranded for the night in Vienna, Austria.
Airlines said they had no choice but to respect Trump’s executive order and deny citizens from the seven Muslim-majority countries from travelling to the US.
Two travel agencies in Iran said they had been instructed by Etihad Airways, Emirates, and Turkish Airlines not to sell US tickets or allow Iranians holding American visas to board US-bound flights.
There are no flights from Iran to the United States, where more than a million Iranians live.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani did not comment directly on the ban Saturday, but said that now was “not the time to build walls between nations.” (AFP)